I am capping off Francophone week with a trip to Le Petite Robert, this french bistro across the street from my cousin's place in the South End. I decided to have the Chicken Coq au Vin, which is a tres traditional French dish. Normally, it's made with rooster (hence the 'coq') but since we're in America and not the French countryside, chicken is a perfectly acceptable alternative. My dining companions were amazed at how tender the chicken was, noting that it looked more like a cut of meat. I explained that when you put anything in a pot with some wine and cook it for hours on end, it'll get fall-off-the-bone tender. That's pretty much the secret to cooking: wine + pot+ meat+ hours & hours = deliciousness.
It was served with buttered noodles and some vegetables, making it a rather hearty dish--better for autumn or winter. But, my goal was to go super traditional and by God I stuck to it. We also had some delightful drinks, which are apparently very popular in France. Katie got the Monaco, which was essentially a grown-up Shirley Temple: beer, sprite, and grenadine. It sounds kind of gross, but you really couldn't taste the beer. I had a beer with peach liqueur, which was great--nice and light for summer with just a hint of peach. I intend on recreating this at home immediately. Or, well, once it becomes an appropriate drinking time....
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